OK. He could do this.

Chuck was wheeling at his side down the hall, escorting him to the room he had stayed in before. As he went down the halls, Logan unconsciously tested the air. He detected four new students, three male, one female, all in the stage of pubescence and one new teacher (he assumed), adult male, with an animal-like scent. Must be part of his mutation. Speaking of mutants, what would the X-Men think about him coming back? He quickly glanced over at Chuck, whose heartbeat seemed normal to his hearing. He did not detect any odor of fear. Maybe they really did accept him. Most other sounds that reached his ears told him that everyone else was asleep. A clock they had passed showed that it was after midnight.

"Here we are. I trust that you will find things as you left them in this room. I made arrangements that it not be disturbed until you returned. As for you being back, I couldn’t be happier. I have been searching for more leads to your past, but none have been as promising as Alkali Lake. Again, I’m sorry that you didn’t find anything."

"I didn’t say I didn’t find anything. I just got nowhere with what I found."

"Ah, I see. Anything I can do?" Charles cocked his head. He again resisted the temptation to read Logan’s thoughts. It was unclear whether the scientific experiments he had been through had altered his mind patterns, but Logan was a hard read in the best of circumstances and a lot of what came out was not pleasant to see.

"No. That trip stirred up some dreams again. A little different this time. Maybe they could give me a clue but I’m going to need to work on it."

Charles thought better of pointing out that Logan could work on that anywhere. He truly was glad to see him back. Logan could be dangerous, of course. He needed some kind of focus for his energies or he could lash out in anger and frustration with deadly results. There was something about him that was special, though. That Logan had been through a lot was putting it mildly. Having him start to think even somewhat positively about the ideals of mutants becoming part of a society instead of becoming the pariah of a society gave him hope for even the worst of the Brotherhood. Logan had every right to hate mankind with a ferocity that Charles could only begin to understand. But instead he had come back, knowing what ideas the school was founded on. It pleased Charles to no end.

"I’ll leave you to your own devices then. I do hope any dreams you have under this roof will be more pleasant that your last ones." And with that Charles turned and wheeled away.

"Yeah." He closed the door behind him. That was one thing about Chuck. He didn’t push. Logan appreciated that.

Sleep was not an option. He prowled around inside and outside the mansion, careful not to disturb the alarm systems. After he had accomplished a couple of ‘chores,’ he made his way to the staff breakroom. Caffeine was not the stimulant to him that it was to others, but he was in the habit of drinking coffee as much as anyone. He made a pot and relaxed with a paper, catching up on some of the news of the world he really could care less about, sometimes.

---

(Jean. Jean? Good morning, Jean. Are you awake?)

(I am now, professor. Something up?)

(Yes. Logan came back last night. I have alerted all the staff except you. I hated to wake you, but I just wanted you to be prepared.)

(Thanks, professor. It’s good to be prepared. I’ll meet you in your office in a few. Signing off.)

Jean thought about the mental message she had just received. It was good to be prepared. Her attraction to Logan was something she could not explain and that irritated her. Scientific fascination? Animal magnetism, perhaps? Not that she would ever do anything about it. She loved Scott. Scott knew this, but reacted to Logan with an unexplained jealousy she knew he found frustrating. Logan could certainly make waves. The professor was right to be prepared.

---

That lousy...He knew that cretin would take his bike. That was why he had left the note to use it. But two weeks and no word had put an edge on his temper. He slowed as he approached the garage. He better not have...the sight that greeted him gave him pause. He snatched up the one word note on the gleaming gas tank of his spotless motorcycle and sighed. The professor did know what he was doing after all. Dammit. Just when you thought it was safe to hate a guy. Scott turned and headed for the main house, straight for the breakroom.

---

"Hello, Logan," Ororo smiled. "I see you are back."

"Yeah." He didn’t look up. He was not a gambling man by nature. Gambling involved chance and it always seemed a certainty that he would survive anything. But, if he were a gambling man, he would have bet that the professor had told all the staff to expect him. Nice that they didn’t stay away. Her heartbeat was up, though and he didn’t want to make her too nervous. "You OK?"

"Sure." She poured some of the coffee already made in the pot and took a drink. Coughing and sputtering she felt an unusually large amount of caffeine enter her system as the thick, coffee-like substance scalded its way down her throat. "You make the coffee?" She choked on the words.

"Yeah. S’ok?"

"Sure. Um. Did you read the directions?"

"No."

"OK. Um. Next time don’t use quite so much coffee. I don’t think the professor’s system can handle it." Neither can mine she finished quietly to herself.

"OK. Whatever."

Scott and Jean entered the room from opposite ends. After sharing a glance, they both said hello to Logan and Ororo and noted that she was busy making coffee although Logan already had a cup.

---

"I don’t see what the big deal is," Logan grumbled as Scott led the way to the garage area. "I returned your precious bike."

"I know. After you left, the professor had me order another one and modify it to be similar to the one I have. After a while, when you didn’t come back, I was tempted to take it apart or take it for myself. Now I’m glad I didn’t. I guess this is my way of saying thanks for taking such good care of mine."

"I bet that hurt. Saying thanks."

"You have no idea."

Logan turned the corner and caught sight of the motorcycle Scott had whipped the cover off of. A low whistle escaped him. Black and chrome and bad attitude written all over it, the bike that greeted him was definitely a beauty. Sitting on it was a pleasure.

" I will say you have great taste in motorcycles." And with that he revved it up and took it for a spin.

---

She opened her eyes. Sunshine kissed the edge of her bed. Yow. She was late. It was the next to last day of their break between semesters and she had said she would go with Kitty and Jubilee to the mall. Breakfast and shopping strategy started at 7:00 am in the eating hall. Marie rushed around the room, gathering a change of clothing, gloves, etc. Frantically she crashed into the bathroom, intending to hit the shower with a fast soap-up and rinse. The smell hit her first. She stopped dead in her tracks. A small vase with a few very pretty and very fragrant flowers stood at attention on the counter. Stunned, she backed out of the bathroom and glanced at the door to her room. It was still locked.

"What the..."

---

"Logan, I understand you wanted to see me?" Charles was seated behind his desk, morning coffee in hand.

"Yeah. Thanks for the bike. But I think...," he began.

"You don’t like the color."

Logan bit off a grin. Of course he liked the color. He really liked the bike, but earning everything with blood, sweat, and attitude for so long made having something given to him feel, well... "It’s not that."

"Oh, don’t feel I am giving it to you, if that is what is bothering you. Consider it a bribe to do a job for me."

Ah. This he could understand. "I’ll help out the team without a bribe, Chuck."

Professor Charles Xavier leaned back in his wheelchair. ‘Chuck’ was not a name he would ever encourage others to call him, but he tolerated it from Logan, knowing it was simply the way Logan was.

"Not what I had in mind, Logan. The team does need you, yes, but this is a different kind of task. I have people here that can teach these children everything from history to philosophy, science to self-defense, and machines to math. I do not have someone here who can teach them to survive the way you can. What if they find themselves alone, truly alone, in a large city or in a forest or in a desert? Could you teach them how to live? How to survive? How to elude capture when things aren’t nice and pretty?"

Logan rolled this around in his brain for a split second. "You’re expecting something." It wasn’t a question.

Their eyes met. There wasn’t an answer.

"The older kids?"

"All, to some extent, need basic lessons in precaution and survival. The older ones will need to know more graphic details, I’m afraid."

"Starting..."

"Tuesdays and Thursdays of next week for the older students. Two to five in the afternoon. We’ll work in sessions for the younger group. Will you need some night classes, too?"

"If you want them to really be prepared, yeah. Field trips to locations if possible." His mind was racing. "I can’t teach them everything I know. I don’t even know myself what I know." He rifled his fingers through his hair. This was unexpected, but wasn’t it what he had in mind when he decided to come back? Make sure these kids had a future?

"Every little bit could make the difference, Logan. Every little bit."

---

"So you have no idea who put them there?"

"None. Ah told you, Kitty, the door was locked. Ah thought you were playing a prank on me."

"I didn’t do it, though."

Marie, Kitty, and Jubilee were leaving the eating hall and making their way through the halls toward the front entrance. Professor Xavier’s door opened and out came...

"Logan!"

Marie ran up to him immediately, a smile lighting her face.

His somber face softened.

"Hey, kid. How are you?"

"Great! When did you get in?"

"After midnight. Everyone but Ch..the professor was asleep." He had to remember this was a school, after all.

Kitty and Jubilee shuffled their feet.

"Oh. Logan, you remember Kitty and Jubilee?"

"Hmmph. Hi."

"Well, nice to see you again, Mr. Logan. We’re off to the mall now." And with that the other girls grabbed a hold of Marie and started to drag her off.

"Wait!" She shrugged them off and returned to his side. "You need this." She pulled something from around her neck and, grabbing his hand, placed the dog tag he had given her into his upturned palm. It was warm to his sense of touch. "Ah’m glad you came back. Ah’ll be back soon. We can talk, OK?" They were finally successful in dragging her out the door.

The tag glinted up at him, her scent impressed upon it.

---

Shopping was not going well for her. She was too preoccupied. Logan was back. She glanced at the others going full tilt into the sales racks. He came back. What did she think about this? Hmm. She sat down on a bench just inside one of the dressing rooms and closed the door.

He had been there for her, picked her up at one of the lowest points of her life, and came after her when she was ready to run. Yet they had not really spoken that much. They really didn’t need to. She felt a kinship with Logan that was missing in her relationship with the other mutants in her life. Maybe it was an understanding they shared about the world and how it treated you and finding out you are frighteningly different than everyone else and are dangerous as hell to anyone around you. Yeah. That must be it. His eyes had wrinkled when he smiled. She liked that.

A sudden darkening of the room occurred. She snatched off the shirt that had been dumped on her head. It was purple and paisley. Her eyebrows rose.

"Try it on, chica. It will look great on you."

Shopping had just taken a turn for the worse.

---

Stares here were different than stares in other places. At least here they knew he was a mutant and had no problems with it. Most of the talk in undertones centered around guesses as to what his mutation was. He didn’t sit near anyone, though. Personal space was important to him. Smell, body heat, heartbeats, and whispers were usually filtered out with distance and plenty of it or, in this case, simply ignoring what was around him. Unfortunately, his keen senses were not cooperating tonight and he was overloaded with too much information. He was on edge and didn’t know why.

He cocked his head and heard them before they entered the dining hall. Jubilee and Kitty looked flushed from a fabulous day of shopping. His eyes narrowed. Marie looked tired. They picked up their meals and headed for the rest of the oldest kids in the room. That is, until Marie caught sight of him. She veered off and took the seat opposite him, ignoring the lowering of volume in conversation.

"‘Lo," he ventured.

"Whew. Ah’m glad that’s over with. When they said a day at the mall, Ah had no idea they meant from sunup to sundown." She flashed him a glance. " Ah really haven’t had the chance to thank you for talking me out of running from here. It’s been different. Being with others sorta like me, Ah mean. Going back to school and all has made it seem like, you know, kinda like a normal life. Starting Monday Ah get to take my last semester of high school and the professor says Ah can start some college prep courses after that."

It suddenly struck him that he did not know if he had finished high school. "Sounds like you’re on the right track."

She took some time out for bites of her dinner. The silence was comfortable.
"Find out anything useful on your trip?"

"Some." He paused. "I won’t be making another trip for a little while, though."

She smiled. "When you do, let me know if you need a place to keep the dog tag."

"I will."

She could have sworn he winked. Her eyes twinkled with mischief.

"You wear your seatbelt now, don’t ya?"

He snorted. "They don’t come with motorcycles, kid."

"Will you take me for a ride?"

"Not after what happened to my truck."

They continued eating.

---

Sunday evening already. Marie sighed. Tomorrow started the last of high school for her. She was excited and sad at the same time. If she went to college, would that mean she had to leave? If the professor would let Logan come and go, surely she could hang around, too, right? She pushed thoughts about leaving to the side and let her mind drift. She began to daydream about staying at the mansion, helping to teach and counsel with other kids and becoming an important part of the school. She shook her head.

She rose from her bed and went over to the books she had organized for the coming classes. Again she picked up the schedule and read what all the other older kids had puzzled over. ‘Tue-Thurs 2-5 pm Specials’ Specials? What was it? And what was the deal with all the older kids being signed up for it? None of them had elected to take anything like it when they had signed up for the classes at the end of last semester. It didn’t even say who would teach it.

Her mind suddenly gave a jolt. X-Men training? Would they really begin preparing us for use in the team? All the kids were curious about the X-Men. They had all sorts of theories on what the team actually did, and how the teachers really acted when they weren’t teaching. They had occasionally seen the jet take off when they went on missions. She had actually ridden in it twice. Of course the last time she had been a little out of it, with Logan’s personality running around in her head.

She didn’t remember all of that night, but the parts she did remember made her shiver. Looking at Logan’s broken, bleeding body and having him running around in her head had been disorienting. At least his personality had pushed back the awful thoughts and memories Magneto had left in her. As with her first experience with touching and absorbing others abilities and memories, she had to work very hard to reassert her own psyche. With the professor’s help she had removed all of the intruding images that weren’t her own. Well, almost all. There were two images she kept locked in her mind from that experience, one she could not remove and one she didn’t want to.

"Best Ah get a good night’s sleep for tomorrow," Marie told herself sternly and crawled under her covers. For a fleeting moment she entertained the idea of going down to Logan’s room. She had enjoyed dinner with him the other night. He could act gruff and all, but she knew he liked her and the banter they had shared had made her feel good. No one could deadpan like he could. She had the feeling that others did not see him the way she did. Their loss, she decided as she curled up and closed her eyes.

---

Well, now he knew. The dreams were not true. She was not dead or dying. In fact, she looked pretty darn good to him. She certainly was different. Eating with him. That had been nice of her. She was funny, something he was not really used to. In the last fifteen years or so he had made a habit of studying people. Usually for defense purposes, of course. The people he had seen and dealt with had been from the lower, ok, the dregs of society. He had been an outcast even from them. Like some mangy cur. Oh, he could have women if he wanted, that had never been a problem. They didn’t mind trying on an animal for size. One night stand only, of course. He had a crash course in sex education and mastered it well, learning to give them just what they wanted and getting a release of tension for himself in return. Relationships were not something he really wanted to be a part of, not with women like that.

Marie was special, though. She was different, in a good way that he just couldn’t put his finger on. He stared up at the ceiling, his brow furrowed as he lay upon the bed. He didn’t need to protect her; she had the school for that. He didn’t even need to be here. The instincts in him to avoid closed-in spaces stirred. No. He promised Chuck he would try to teach the kids. He had promised her something, too. Hadn’t he?

Logan knew the dreams would come again tonight. They had robbed him of restful sleep and he had begun to feel some of the effects. Carting around an extra hundred pounds or so of adamantium kept you in good shape, but it also was harder to move in the mornings if you didn’t get rest. He would push himself, he knew. Get past it. He had to. Chuck was counting on him.

Teaching, hmmm. He let the tactical side of his brain plot out strategies of exposing the kids to survival techniques. A feral smile flitted across his lips. I’ll bet they’ve never been taught that way before, he thought. He chuckled darkly.